Super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli experienced one of the most effortless victories in Shawinigan, swiftly knocking out Britain’s Mark Heffron with a body shot a mere 40 seconds into the first round.
The finale of the Eye of the Tiger gala, presented on Saturday evening at the Gervais Auto Center in Montreal, was filled with high stakes.
“After seeing some of his fights, I knew that he did not tolerate much body work,” Mbilli said.
“As my coaches always say, I try to hitting the body, at the start of the fight and take advantage of it afterwards.” Mbilli added.
Mbilli maneuvered Heffron into the ropes and delivered a decisive left hook to his rib cage, causing him to collapse. Heffron dropped to all fours and was then counted out.
“I felt I had shaken him early in the fight after hitting him in the head and then he put his hands up,” Mbilli said.
“It’s never easy to recover from a blow like that and then I was able to hit him to the body, especially since it’s my specialty.” he added.
Mbilli’s trainer, Marc Ramsay, had anticipated a longer bout for Mbilli’s fight against Mark Heffron, expecting it to extend beyond 40 seconds.
“I expected it to be much longer than that. That said, I am extremely satisfied, because Christian left no information tonight.” Ramsay said.
“There’s absolutely nothing to take away from a fight like that when it lasts 40 seconds.” Ramsay added.
Mbilli easily defended his WBC Continental Americas and WBA International super-middleweight belts. Therefore, he remains the champion in both divisions.
His next fight will reportedly come in August with rugged but battle-blistered Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the opposite corner.
Heffron had a tough end to last year, as he lost his British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles in a three-round defeat to his former gym mate, Jack Cullen.
